This is a story about John and his two dads…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that children are our future, so it should come as no surprise that they often become the target of measures promoting acceptance when instilling long-term social change.

Local LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, intersex, and questioning), groups know this, and following the introduction of significant rights like the civil unions bill in April 2014, and the gender identity bill earlier in 2015, the lobby began to shift its focus onto education, as the key to long-term social change.

LGBTIQ groups have already launched a ‘Trans, gender-variant and intersex students in schools’ policy back in June, and among its proposals for the future are a monitoring the implementation of the policy and addressing bullying on these bases among other things.

One of the most striking suggestions made in the LGBTIQ action plan presented last Monday, is the provision of “resources for schools, such as storybooks, fiction and non-fiction for children and adolescents as well as resource packs for teachers.” Is LGBTIQ literature so hard to come by at schools? And can it really help to achieve changes in social perceptions?

Malta Gay Rights Movement coordinator Gabi Calleja told Malta Today that one of the realities that the LGBTIQ community has to deal with is heteronormativity – the accepted ‘normalcy’ or tradition of opposite-sex relationships and families – which often renders gay people’s lives and experiences invisible.

“Literature that portrays LGBTIQ characters provides representations, even if fictional, of the experiences, issues, relationships, fears, aspirations of LGBTIQ children and youth.”

A publisher of educational books, former MGRM member Anna Caruana, explains the undisputed effect reading has on the way people think.

“It’s not just about people identifying with characters, but books help us understand and sympathize with others who may be different from ourselves. For instance, we often find ourselves even understanding the perspectives of criminals when we read.”

“So the presence of literature at both primary and secondary schools is a start towards creating a more accepting society, but there are also other factors to bear in mind,” Caruana said, adding that it is not children who are born with an innate ability to discriminate, but that it’s often adults’ opinions (and their parents’ opinions in particular) that can have a negative effect on their views. 

“The only way to make sure that adults become more accepting is through the creation of supportive legislation,” she said. “It has become common for homosexual couples to hold hands in public for instance, because now the law backs them up… Social perceptions are, luckily changing, and increasing children’s exposure to such realities is necessary to make acceptance a very natural part of life.”

It is not teenagers who present a particular challenge, as they are amongst the most exposed enough to realise friends’ and classmates’ sexual orientations did not bear any direct effect on their friendships with each other. Most of the resources initially donated by MGRM to school libraries were aimed at young children between the ages of three and nine, although it is the Directorate for Education that ultimately decides how to distribute the books among the schools.

“Our funds are limited, so at this stage only some schools will benefit but we hope that this will be followed up by other projects and initiatives so that further resources can be acquired and made available to schools,” Gabi Calleja said.

“The aim is to move towards a mainstreaming approach where the inclusion of such resources that seek to address not just LGBTIQ issues but other minorities as well, is incorporated in the provision of books to schools.”

She added that the MGRM will start targeting state schools but that ideally all teachers and students should ultimately have access to such resources. 

“I think awareness of the existences of such resources is the first step. Training of educators is the second step,” she explained.

Caruana in fact seconded this opinion, saying that the provision of resources was not enough on its own and that teachers needed some sort of training towards sensitization and offering support to LGBTIQ individuals.

“Teachers can be among the most conservative professions, not to mention teachers within church schools, so the provision of training even at University level would go a long way.”

On his part, the coordinator of the Church Schools Association Fr Jimmy Bartolo said that schools are open to discussing the proposals but that ultimately each school could decide whether or not to introduce LGBTIQ books in their libraries at their own discretion.

“The association is also discussing an LGBTIQ-in-schools policy to find ways to adapt it to church schools,” Bartolo said, adding that the schools were doing their best to make sure that they were supportive and inclusive of all social groups.

“Church schools have always done their best to be inclusive of all students regardless of any preferences, beliefs or disabilities they might have,” he said stressing the schools’ openness and commitment to help and support LGBTIQ individuals. 

Caruana said that some private schools were already making some LGBTIQ books available, and that the use of varied family types was common even in things like Maths problems and so on.

At Chiswick House School and St Martin’s College, director Bernie Mizzie says that although these books are still not available at the school, every effort was being made to allow students to feel comfortable in expressing their sexuality through a number of support and guidance lessons. 

But Gabi Calleja points out that in general educators had shown gratitude for resources that could assist them in implementing the curriculum. “Sometimes teachers can be fearful of how parents may react, or at what age and in what way certain issues can be addressed.”

Storybook love

And Tango Makes Three is a storybook for young children that tells the true story of two male penguins who hatched and raised a baby penguin at the New York zoo.

Morris Micklewhite & the Tangerine Dress is the story of a boy who likes to wear a dress, the acceptance he receives from his mother and the often negative reactions from his class mates.

Not Every Princess is the story of a little girl who is somewhat of a tomboy and the story challenges the rigid construction of gender roles and societal expectations of how boys and girls are expected to behave.

Empress of the World is a story of two teenage girls who fall in love, an adolescent coming out story.

The MGRM will also provide copies of Stonewall UK’s resources for educators, including ‘Spell it Out’ and ‘Free to be Yourself’, both of which provide guidelines on how to address homophobia in schools.

“Some of the themes in them are language, preconceptions, stereotypes, bullying and building trust.”

But attention will have to be given in the choice of books to be provided given that not many good quality LGBTIQ books were available on the market.

“It’s still not a very serious industry, even due to the legal aspect. Civil unions and marriages of same-sex couples are relatively new around the world, so publishers worldwide might not feel that publishing books of a certain theme is financially viable yet.”

Anna Caruana said that such was the case in Malta for instance, given that legal recognition of same sex couples is something of a recent development.

“The market has naturally been made more legitimate, and the industry will probably follow suit, particularly in the creation of books with such themes in Maltese,” she said, adding that the production of books in Maltese could ultimately help to bring the reality closer to home.